This is just wonderful. I think I already have my patch without even realising it. But I'm definitely going to try and be more intentional now about walking it. A little pocket notebook sounds like a great idea
I was thinking the same! A small pocket notebook to take with me while I walk my patch with my dog familiar would be a great addition for enjoying the neighborhood and nature around me!
Absolutely! I hope you enjoy your note-taking walks. I have my notebook on my desk so that as soon as I come in from my walk I can write things down - without having to get my fingers cold hehe.
My patch is a 3 mile out and back walk along the promenade or seafront where I live. I see birds, seals, the changing tides and the aftermath of storms as well as trees sprouting up from the breakwater. Winter weekday walks take place after work so I look to the stars instead and hear the distant call of birds on the shoreline. I record this in my head but I will pop my little sketchbook in my pocket from now on. Thanks for a lovely read this morning 💖
I must admit I do not call myself witch. But in my own fashion, I follow the natural rhythm of Mother. For instance, over the years I have found myself 'noticing' when the leaves change in my local area - especially my own property. There is a majestic old hard maple in our back yard that practically demands attention in all her glory. It troubled me last Fall when her leaves dried up brown too early. We did not have the beautiful color expected in the surrounding miles around town. The summer had suffered a terrible dry season, and everything dried up because of it. I look forward to being more mindful and recording the movements around me. Thank you for waking me.
I'm so happy to read this this morning! I've been a tad fluey the past few days but have dragged myself through work, and later today I'll walk 'my patch.' I have a workday patch which is urban (there's still so much nature to see), but my weekend or days-off patch is through the edgeland which I find particularly magickal as it always has a liminal quality no matter the hour or season. I journal about it all the time but recently have started to share more publicly on my Instagram account @a_life_of_short_lives and it even inspired a piece which was published in Elsewhere: A Journal of Place. It feels all the more special knowing others are walking their own witchy patches! X
I hope you're feeling tonnes better now, Claire! I love that you have two patches - I have a couple too as it's so good to see different habitats flourishing throughout the year. I love that you've turned your walks into an IG journal <3 Blessed Imbolc - have you been seeing the first signs of the festival where you are? x
I love this! I did a loop in my old neighborhood and now that I have moved it feels sooo different. I love that I am not alone and that it has such a friendly association with “witches”.
I bought a pocket dated diary to record which birds I see each day... I will be adding details about my patch now ✨ I have a patch at home and a patch 30 min loop I do at lunch at work. I take my wellies in my car especially so I can get a break whatever the weather ! 🥾
Love this! Welly weather appears when we suspect it least - I'm going to also buy a pocket diary this weekend and look forward to starting my notes on the year at Imbolc. Bright blessings to you and enjoy your recording x
The bit about being a steward rather than just a solitary practitioner really shifts how this could feel. I've always thought of my dailywalks as personal time, but framing it as gathering intel that might matter to the community around me adds weight to the whole thing. Makes noticing feel less optional, more like an actual responsibility to the place itself.
I absolutely see it this way! I feel like the Earth is always sending out messages - not only for moments of connection with us, but to help us understand the current spiritual climate. Walking to notice is so powerful
This has arrived at a wonderful time for me. Almost a year ago we purchased the land my partner grew up on. It use to be referred as "the farm" but it wasn't a good fit, instead we landed on "the Patch", so obviously your title caught ny attention. Calling it the Patch has helped me feel more connected to this space. We finally moved to the Patch a month ago, walking the trails have me wondering how I may come to know it and how the land will heal over the years we are here. Thanks for sharing your experience it has opened up some new thoughts and given me permission to continue take brisk walks.
Oh wow!! I love that this aligned for you, and that you are on your path to healing this patch of land. I'm wishing you so much love and success with it!
I absolutely love this Jennifer. Even though I've moved in the last year, so my patch has changed, my daily walk now includes a nature reserve. I love the idea of noticing those subtle changes and being the custodian of that land. I'm really going to start doing this, it feels right in my bones.
Ooh, how wonderful that you get to visit a nature reserve every day - that is so special. I hope you enjoy recording what you see there as a moment of spiritual calm as well as noting the change of the seasons.
I realised a few years ago that I always walk the boundaries (as I call it) of where I live, gradually getting to know it by walking in a figure of eight until I know the area in detail (I never use maps in this process) using trees as landmarks, then I walk each day to where I feel drawn. My current landscape is defined by two rivers and a canal and is about 1.5 by 2 miles with a visible history going back to the 13th Century and a recorded history back to before the Romans with a hill fort and long barrow within walking distance. It is one of the most ‘alive’ places I’ve lived but it’s gradually being built over, ancient hedgerows destroyed, badgers ‘re-located’, wild flowers and butterflies almost gone… it’s heartbreaking to feel the changes.
Hi Jaimie - I love you go where you are drawn; it’s obviously where you need to be on that given day <3 The area around your home sounds absolutely wonderful. I really feel your heartache on that ongoing building work - my local area has been overrun with new estates (5000 new houses in the past three years) and it hurts my heart when I can hear the hammers and chisels from my window. I’m going to spend some time this weekend sending energy and love to the land so it knows that it is still wanted and loved.
My patch is my Magic Forest, not far from our home. Initially I started walking there in 2020 in search of a lost scene of my book The Quartermaster. Many other scenes, stories and books followed since. And I have become friends with a little holly tree called Sophie who is a very good listener 🌲
This is just wonderful. I think I already have my patch without even realising it. But I'm definitely going to try and be more intentional now about walking it. A little pocket notebook sounds like a great idea
I hope you enjoy recording what you find! I'm really excited to go and get myself a pocket diary and record day by day.
I was thinking the same! A small pocket notebook to take with me while I walk my patch with my dog familiar would be a great addition for enjoying the neighborhood and nature around me!
Absolutely! I hope you enjoy your note-taking walks. I have my notebook on my desk so that as soon as I come in from my walk I can write things down - without having to get my fingers cold hehe.
My patch is a 3 mile out and back walk along the promenade or seafront where I live. I see birds, seals, the changing tides and the aftermath of storms as well as trees sprouting up from the breakwater. Winter weekday walks take place after work so I look to the stars instead and hear the distant call of birds on the shoreline. I record this in my head but I will pop my little sketchbook in my pocket from now on. Thanks for a lovely read this morning 💖
What a patch! This made me feel wistful for the sea – I hope you're having a wonderful winter observing the birds x
This is a lovely piece 🥰 I feel like my ‘patch’ has gifted me my practice, but only through the deep knowing of many years noticing ☺️
Love to hear this! Gathering natural information on our walks is such a doorway into deeper knowing
I must admit I do not call myself witch. But in my own fashion, I follow the natural rhythm of Mother. For instance, over the years I have found myself 'noticing' when the leaves change in my local area - especially my own property. There is a majestic old hard maple in our back yard that practically demands attention in all her glory. It troubled me last Fall when her leaves dried up brown too early. We did not have the beautiful color expected in the surrounding miles around town. The summer had suffered a terrible dry season, and everything dried up because of it. I look forward to being more mindful and recording the movements around me. Thank you for waking me.
What a beautiful message, Melissa ❤️ thank you so much. I look forward to hearing about the seasons of your maple x
I'm so happy to read this this morning! I've been a tad fluey the past few days but have dragged myself through work, and later today I'll walk 'my patch.' I have a workday patch which is urban (there's still so much nature to see), but my weekend or days-off patch is through the edgeland which I find particularly magickal as it always has a liminal quality no matter the hour or season. I journal about it all the time but recently have started to share more publicly on my Instagram account @a_life_of_short_lives and it even inspired a piece which was published in Elsewhere: A Journal of Place. It feels all the more special knowing others are walking their own witchy patches! X
I hope you're feeling tonnes better now, Claire! I love that you have two patches - I have a couple too as it's so good to see different habitats flourishing throughout the year. I love that you've turned your walks into an IG journal <3 Blessed Imbolc - have you been seeing the first signs of the festival where you are? x
I love this! I did a loop in my old neighborhood and now that I have moved it feels sooo different. I love that I am not alone and that it has such a friendly association with “witches”.
It'll always hold meaning to you! I hope you enjoy finding a new patch to call your own x
I live in a condo in Las Vegas, so my "patch" will be urban, but there are still some trees, flowers, birds, and sky to see and learn from.
Absolutely! There is always so much to notice and swoon over <3
I bought a pocket dated diary to record which birds I see each day... I will be adding details about my patch now ✨ I have a patch at home and a patch 30 min loop I do at lunch at work. I take my wellies in my car especially so I can get a break whatever the weather ! 🥾
Love this! Welly weather appears when we suspect it least - I'm going to also buy a pocket diary this weekend and look forward to starting my notes on the year at Imbolc. Bright blessings to you and enjoy your recording x
The bit about being a steward rather than just a solitary practitioner really shifts how this could feel. I've always thought of my dailywalks as personal time, but framing it as gathering intel that might matter to the community around me adds weight to the whole thing. Makes noticing feel less optional, more like an actual responsibility to the place itself.
I absolutely see it this way! I feel like the Earth is always sending out messages - not only for moments of connection with us, but to help us understand the current spiritual climate. Walking to notice is so powerful
Great post, Jen. I live in a very ‘cultivated’ area but still loaded with plants and trees. I take photos along the way. 📷
There's so much hidden in nature, even amongst the busiest places! ❤️🌈
This has arrived at a wonderful time for me. Almost a year ago we purchased the land my partner grew up on. It use to be referred as "the farm" but it wasn't a good fit, instead we landed on "the Patch", so obviously your title caught ny attention. Calling it the Patch has helped me feel more connected to this space. We finally moved to the Patch a month ago, walking the trails have me wondering how I may come to know it and how the land will heal over the years we are here. Thanks for sharing your experience it has opened up some new thoughts and given me permission to continue take brisk walks.
Oh wow!! I love that this aligned for you, and that you are on your path to healing this patch of land. I'm wishing you so much love and success with it!
I absolutely love this Jennifer. Even though I've moved in the last year, so my patch has changed, my daily walk now includes a nature reserve. I love the idea of noticing those subtle changes and being the custodian of that land. I'm really going to start doing this, it feels right in my bones.
Ooh, how wonderful that you get to visit a nature reserve every day - that is so special. I hope you enjoy recording what you see there as a moment of spiritual calm as well as noting the change of the seasons.
I realised a few years ago that I always walk the boundaries (as I call it) of where I live, gradually getting to know it by walking in a figure of eight until I know the area in detail (I never use maps in this process) using trees as landmarks, then I walk each day to where I feel drawn. My current landscape is defined by two rivers and a canal and is about 1.5 by 2 miles with a visible history going back to the 13th Century and a recorded history back to before the Romans with a hill fort and long barrow within walking distance. It is one of the most ‘alive’ places I’ve lived but it’s gradually being built over, ancient hedgerows destroyed, badgers ‘re-located’, wild flowers and butterflies almost gone… it’s heartbreaking to feel the changes.
Hi Jaimie - I love you go where you are drawn; it’s obviously where you need to be on that given day <3 The area around your home sounds absolutely wonderful. I really feel your heartache on that ongoing building work - my local area has been overrun with new estates (5000 new houses in the past three years) and it hurts my heart when I can hear the hammers and chisels from my window. I’m going to spend some time this weekend sending energy and love to the land so it knows that it is still wanted and loved.
My patch is my Magic Forest, not far from our home. Initially I started walking there in 2020 in search of a lost scene of my book The Quartermaster. Many other scenes, stories and books followed since. And I have become friends with a little holly tree called Sophie who is a very good listener 🌲
I love that your patch is also your creative space! And what a beautiful name for it – having a tree friend is the mark of something truly sacred x
My loop is mainly around and through suburban housing but there is still so much to see. Birds, trees, gardens, and the sky. Thank you for this!
Definitely still so much to see! When I'm in an urban area, I like to find a tree that I can focus on and watch it change throughout the seasons x